Locked in an even-as-can-be Australian Open semi-final, Dominic Thiem looked up at his guest box, patted his belly and stuck out his tongue, as if to indicate he was feeling sick. He shook his head. He winced.
Whatever might have been going on, Thiem turned out to be just fine – well enough to play, well enough to win.
The 26-year-old Austrian reached his third Grand Slam final oand first at Melbourne Park by using his baseline bullying and big-moment bravado to beat Alexander Zverev 3-6, 6-4, 7-6 (3), 7-6 (4) on Friday.
The No5-seeded Thiem’s opponent in the title match Sunday will be No 2 Novak Djokovic, the defending champion, who eliminated Roger Federer on Thursday.
Thiem’s two previous major finals came on the red clay of the French Open, where he was the runner-up to 12-time champion Nadal each of the last two years. Now he will face a similar challenge: Djokovic owns a record seven titles from the hard courts of the Australian Open.
Thiem never had been past the fourth round in Melbourne until now. But he’s in rather fine form at the moment, with three consecutive wins over top-10 opponents, including No. 1 Nadal in the quarters and, now, No 7 Zverev.
